The Inquisition Comes to Spain. The Inquisition did not originate in Spain and did not originally target Jews. In the 1200s, the Pope established the Holy Inquisition Against Depraved Heresy to deal with breakaway Christian sects.

The Spanish Inquisition. In 1478, the Catholic Monarchs began the famous Inquisition to purify Catholicism in all their territories. The Inquisition was established to act as a tribunal to identify heretics and bring them to justice. This added fuel to the fire of hatred between Jews and Christians; if you had an argument with a neighbor or acquaintance, you could accuse them of …

The Spanish Inquisition was abolished in 1808 by Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who had been appointed king following the occupation of Spain by French troops. The reformers who eventually liberated Spain from the French in 1813 reinforced the ban, but their actions were overturned the following year when Ferdinand VII was restored to power.

Home : : About Spain : : History of the Spanish Inquisition. One of the darker periods of Spanish history was the 350-year Spanish Inquition, the beginning of which overlapped with the final years of the Reconquest. It was an epoch of severe censorship, paranoia, torture, autos-da-fé, death and the general persecution of "heretics"- in other words, pretty much anybody who allegedly …